BXBX NOVEL Chapter 61: The Mark
Petricia bowed, then quickly left the area. She doesn't even ask if Alex would need a translator or not.
For her, Alex is a God; nothing is impossible for him.
The reason she translated before was just so Emily could hear it too. Even if Alex asks her to translate, Petricia will think that God is giving her a chance to prove her loyalty.
Emily, still reluctant to leave, but seeing their interaction before where Alex had a look of displeasure on his expression and the goblin lord became panicked, made Emily feel it was alright to leave them alone.
'It's only the two of them anyway.' She tough
If a fight broke out, Emily was sure Alex would win.
The only problem is if the goblin lord prepares an ambush. But Alex should be able to detect it with his system.
"Alright, don't take too long, brother."
After both of them were alone in the room, Zarnak and Alex sat at a nearby table.
"Hunter, I am sure you are not the incarnation of God like what Greltha told me. If you are really Celetus incarnation we will be dead now."
Zarnak said with a chuckle, he then continued, "Your identity doesn't matter to me.
Greltha told me you have a way to bring her out of this forsaken place. Is it true?"
If a Progenitor is a God, then technically Alex is an incarnation of one, but he never felt like someone special, so he doesn't feel the need to refute Zarnak.
"I will be blunt, there is a risk she will die, but yeah, I have a way to bring her back with me."
Zarnak sighed. "I know it, there is no way it would be that easy. How risky?"
"I am ninety percent sure, I can bring her back safely."
Based on what he knows Alex is one hundred percent sure he can bring every monster he catches back. The ten percent is if something outside his knowledge happens.
"Percent?" Zarnak raise his eyebrow, puzzled by the new term.
Alex sighed. He then realized the goblin probably only understands basic arithmetic.
"It basically means there's only a small chance she will die.
Let me guess, you want me to bring your people back to my place?"
Zarnak nodded. "Not everyone, at the very least I will need to stay here and be killed by you. There is no way to go around this."
"And why is that?"
"It will be easier to show you."
Zarnak's golden tattoo started to glow, and then a mark appeared on his forehead.
The mark looked like three number nines linked in a circular manner. Alex could feel a sinister energy coming from it.
The mark then disappeared, and Zarnak's tattoo turned dim.
He then breathed heavily, like someone who had just finished a marathon run. It was clear to Alex that it took a heavy toll on Zarnak to even show the mark.
"I don't understand how it works, but my life is linked with some mechanism here, the same one that doesn't allow us to leave.
If one of my clan tries to leave the area, they will just be teleported back to this place.
We have tried many ways, but there is nothing we can do."
Alex put on a thoughtful look. "What happens after I leave this place? To the goblins that are left here?"
"They will be taken to another place like this area, put under a different leader to manage," Zarnak said with a sigh.
"The only way they can be free is if the leader somehow kills the hunter, but we know the chance of that is very small. After all most leaders are just criminals, it's rare for a high goblin like me to be exiled."
His voice then raised, filled with anger.
"Those traitors, they made a deal with invaders, to take over the kingdom. Now they put us here just to make a show to the populace, pretending they give us a chance. While they make sure none of us will return."
"Traitor? By 'invader' you mean us?"
Zarnak wanted to say something but then stopped. "Sorry, I cannot answer that; there are limitations put on me."
"From the mark?"
Zarnak nodded.
"How about the God Celeste, Why do you say if I am really his incarnation, you will be dead now?"
Zarnak's eyes turn complicated, "that is a long story of our race, but I am sorry, I cannot tell you this too."
Alex then asked Vesa about the mark, but even Vesa didn't recognize it.
[King, I have been in slumber for so many eons before you and Queen awaken me. It's not weird for many new power systems to appear.]
'You really have no clue, Vesa? Anything?'"
[No, King, there are many things that can create sinister energy like that, too many possibilities.]
[If I could tinker with it, I could probably find out the origin, but doing so would be too risky now.]
[The being that can create that mark is far above your level; even with regeneration ability, we would be doomed.]
Alex sighed, he knew he had hit a dead end. There is nothing he could do now.
"I can only bring 82 goblins with me at most. You should make the decision of who to bring."
Alex then paused for a moment. He hesitated, but he knew it needed to be said.
"I am sorry to say this, but since you're going to die anyway, can you give me all your magic tools?"
Magic tools are similar to artifacts; the only difference is they're powered with mana, just like the hammer Alex used before.
"Don't worry, I will give them to you. I will also give all the resources we have here. It's better for you to use them than those traitors."
Zarnak feels relieved, at least he can leave behind some of his descendants to survive.
All the high goblin that are still alive is his descendant.